Wheaton College will hold a memorial service Friday morning for the Rev. Billy Graham to coincide with the funeral for the late evangelist in his home state of North Carolina.

The gathering at the Edman Memorial Chapel will pay tribute to the school's most famous alumnus and watch a livestream of his funeral from Charlotte, North Carolina. The college's concert choir will perform during the public service that begins at 11 a.m.

Graham had a preaching ministry as a Wheaton student long before he took his crusades to millions around the world and became a counselor to U.S. presidents. Graham died at his home Feb. 21. The 99-year-old had suffered from cancer, pneumonia and other ailments.

Though Graham had been removed from the public eye for years, his presence at the college is inescapable. A 1943 graduate, Graham met his wife, Ruth, at the school and preached on Sundays in downtown Wheaton.

His last trip to the college was in 1994 for the rededication of his namesake center.

"Billy Graham often came back to campus," college President Philip Ryken said last week after Graham's death. "He served for decades as a member of our board of trustees and loved to encourage the ongoing work of Wheaton College."

The Billy Graham Center Museum also has extended its hours for a special photo exhibit of the most widely heard Christian evangelist in history. The collection honoring Graham's ministry will be on display through March 10.

Tickets to Friday's service are not required. Doors to the chapel, at the corner of Washington and Franklin streets in Wheaton, will open at 10:30 a.m.

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